This is the first of two chapters devoted to thesynthesis of material presented so far. Its purposeis to apply the principles distilled in this studyto the entirety of select works to show how all thetempo cues discussed so far work together to createmusically convincing tempo shifts. Because the topicof tempo in Baroque music is so complex even whennarrowed down to roughly one linguistic geographicalarea (i.e., German-speaking areas) and oneinstrument's repertoire (i.e., organ repertoire), itis very beneficial to distill the concepts down totheir most practical application, i.e., that of ahands-on approach to individual works. The worksused for this goal are Dieterich Buxtehude'sPraeludium in G, BuxWV 149, Nicolas Bruhns'sPraeludium in E (large), and Johann Sebastian Bach'sPraeludium in C/E Major, BWV 566, and the earlyversion of his Kunst derFuge, BWV 1080 (P 200).

As usual, to illustrate the various tempo principlesencountered in these works, metronome markings havebeen supplied. As a gentle reminder, these metronomeindications are only given to assist the performerand musicologist in understanding the tempotransitions from one section of a composition toanother. By no means are they intended as absolutetempos to be adhered to in performance: they simplyserve as a reference point. Ultimately, it is up tothe performer to choose their own tempo based on thecircumstances, taste, and the musicologicalevidence.

By way of illustration, the metronome markings Isuggest for the opening section of a given work arechosen to reflect the tempogiusto one might possibly arrive at byconsidering time signature, note values, musicalgesture, and tempo words, and so on. Individualpreferences, however, will vary significantlydepending on such variables as the performer, theinstrument, the acoustic space, and even theoccasion.

Even in the relationships between sections, there isoften ample room for nudging any given tempo one wayor the other. For example, in a section in stylus phantasticus, or asection with an added adagio, the suggested metronome markingwill reflect a slowed speed.